The mobile crane crumbled at a construction site behind the iconic Pepsi-Cola sign along the East River in the Queens borough of New York. / John Minchillo, AP

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

by Michael Winter, USA TODAY

Seven construction workers were hurt Wednesday afternoon when a crane collapsed in Queens, N.Y., according to initial reports.

The mobile crane toppled about 2:30 p.m. ET as it lifted a load at the East Coast complex of luxury residential towers in Long Island City, overlooking the East River. The site is behind a giant, neon Pepsi-Cola sign.

Three injuries were serious but not life threatening, and four were minor, emergency workers reported. Dozens of workers were at the site.

What caused the accident isn't yet known.

"The crane moved pretty quickly, then there was a large crash, and pandemonium going on," a witness told CBS New York. CBS says the crane was 380 feet tall, while the New York Daily News said it was 156 feet. The New York Times cites a tweet describing it as 35 stories high.

The owner, New York Crane and Equipment Corp., was involved in the 2008 collapse of a crane that killed two workers on New York's Upper East Side. The company owner, James Lomma, was acquitted of criminally negligent homicide.